FLCL: Darkness Rising
by Dark Guymelef
Summary: It's been 8 years since Haruko departed, and Naota's life is actually going pretty well, as long as you don't count women. Meanwhile, a sinister force has crushed Medical Mechanica, Atomsk, and the Brotherhood and is coming... for him.


Disclaimer: I don't own FLCL

Chp. 1

Shadow Omen

A certain pink-haired woman panted as she sprinted to a ledge on the mountainside. Her vespa was left on the road that curved around the mountain below. She moved from boulder to boulder, using the large rocks to hoist her higher. In the distance, she could hear the loud, explosive sounds echoing from the valley beyond. Many of the explosions were close enough to send small tremors across the mountain.

Finally, Haruko, or Raharu as she is formally known, reached her destination. The ledge was much higher up than she had anticipated, and the constant shaking did not help the journey. The woman found herself exasperated as she realized that beyond the lip of the ledge, which was she could see before, it continued to slope upward for a ways before ending abruptly.

As Haruko reached the end of the ledge, she took in the scene before her. To her left, the mountains continued to ring around, forming a semicircle that was halted by the ocean on her right. In the valley below, thick, black pillars smoke rose from the city that sprawled in every direction.

A giant, golden, iron lay on its side near the center of the mountain range, smoke and flames rising from a large hole in its side. The tip of another of Medical Mechanica's golden irons could barely be seen jutting out from the ocean's surface. In the city below, Medical Mechanica's machines battled against nine-foot-tall mechanical demons. These machines were black and silver, with red eyes. They resembled some sort of giant alien, with an arrow shaped head, clawed hands, and rows of sharp teeth. However, their purpose was that of a war machine; with numerous weapons hiding under their armored plating.

But none of this was of interest to Haruko. She was looking for something, or someone, specific. She scanned the city below, but most of it was hidden in a sea of smoke. Frustrated, the alien woman was about to begin her descent into the city when a large pillar of fire in the center of the city suddenly rose above the black cloud. Haruko nearly lost her balance as the shockwave from the explosion slammed into the mountain. She excitedly pulled out her binocular-type contraption and zoomed in on the area around the explosion.

There, flying above the smoke, was the being she had been searching for. Even at this distance, she could tell that Atomsk was huge. He had taken on a humanoid shape, except with massive wings sprouting from his back. Judging from the sized of the opponent with whom he was dueling, she guessed he had to be about ten feet tall.

Normally, Haruko would have shouted in triumph after having finally tracked her mortal enemy, but the scene unfolding before her binoculars kept her frozen in place. Atomsk was fighting a human-like being clad in ornate, black body armor. He had very short, black hair, and she could see the glow from his red eyes.

It wasn't this man's menacing appearance that shocked Haruko, it was his power. She watched, stunned, as Atomsk sent a massive fist flying at his opponent, who looked to be barely over half his size. The fist was stopped dead by the man's own hand effortlessly. She could see the muscles in the Pirate King's arm quivering as he tried to overpower his opponent, who looked like he wasn't using any effort at all. He merely smiled before moving inside Atomsk's defenses with blinding speed. His fist connected with the glowing red giant's head, sending him crashing back down into the smoky cloud.

Haruko knew who this man was. He had suddenly appeared a little over three years ago. He called himself Shadow, the Dark Emperor. His power was immense, strong enough to force Medical Mechanica, Atomsk, and the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood to form an alliance. However, even this powerful alliance was being swept away by the black tide that the Dark Emperor led. The Galactic Space Police Brotherhood now only consisted of a fraction of its numbers three years ago. The mechanic empire known as Medical Mechanica had crumbled months ago, its remnants now taking orders from the Brotherhood. Atomsk had pretty much taken charge in the face of the destruction. Much to Haruko's dislike, she had been forced to make a temporary truce with the Pirate King.

If the Dark Emperor's power wasn't enough of a reason to fear him, his goal sure was. He said that he was a trans-dimensional being, traveling across time and space, conquering all those that proved worthy enough to survive, and destroying the rest. He claimed to be in search of the 'Guardians' that were meant to stop him. The Brotherhood had been trying frantically to learn what they could about these 'Guardians', but had had no luck yet. If they didn't stop the Dark Emperor, he was going to destroy the universe, which he was already doing a good job of.

Which was why Haruko was here. The leaders of the Brotherhood had come up with a daring plan to gain intelligence on their new enemy and the 'Guardians'. A team would infiltrate one of the Dark Emperor's vessels and download as much information from it as possible. Since this had never been tried before, it made sense that Atomsk should lead the team. So, Haruko had been chosen to go and retrieve the pirate, who had gone into hiding temporarily. Unfortunately, she had arrived to find the planet under attack, by Shadow himself.

A beam of red energy shot up from the smoke. The Dark Emperor seemed to teleport just before the beam reached him, reappearing just feet away. Atomsk soared into the air, glaring angrily at his opponent. He launched a flurry of attacks on the man, who either blocked or dodged them with impossible ease.

The Dark Emperor struck back, unleashing a beam of red orange energy at Atomsk. The red giant roared as the beam exploded against him. Before he had a chance to recover, the demon planted an iron foot in his backside, sending him into the higher into the air. He didn't get far before Shadow appeared in front of him, spraying the Pirate King with hundreds of bolts of energy. Stray bolts slammed into the city below, vanishing in brilliant, destructive bursts of flame. The Dark Emperor then moved in, sending another fist into Atomsk's face.

With great effort, the Pirate King recovered in midair, catching his opponent by surprise with a kick in the back. The Dark Emperor tumbled through the air before recovering and charging back at his opponent. Atomsk drew both hands back, as if he were preparing to swing a bat, and a beam of red energy sprouted from his hands, solidifying into a red sword. He swung forward, catching the Dark Emperor across the chest. The man gave and indignant cry and looked down and the glowing gash in his armor. He glared at Atomsk before using black energy to form his own sword.

The power behind each swing was so great that every time the blades would connect they would emit a powerful shockwave. The two flew back and forth across the sky, seemingly unable to land a blow on the other. Haruko just stood there, watching them in awe until they clashed so close to her that the accompanying shockwave threw her off her feet.

When the dust settled and Haruko regained full control of her senses, she found a demonic machine towering over her. She barely managed to roll out of the way before its giant, clawed hand smashed the ground where she had been moments before. Haruko got to her feet, unslinging the guitar on her back as she did so. With a yell, she charged forward, slamming the guitar against the metal beast with all of her might. The force of the hit crushed the machine's chest and knocked it onto its back.

Haruko jumped into the air, preparing to crush the machine's head. However, it raised one of its large feet into the air, and her chest hit that instead. Haruko grunted, unable to cry out as all of the air left her lungs. She fell onto the rocky ledge as the machine returned to its feet. It stood over her, the laser cannon in its forearm revealing itself. The muzzle began to glow as the weapon charged up. Haruko rolled away and grabbed her guitar again. She got up and swung the instrument just in time to deflect the laser blast like a baseball. The beam hit the machine square in its crumpled chest. The whole upper half of it exploded, leaving two smoking legs to hit the ground.

Mind back in action, Haruko slid back down the mountain. Miraculously, all of the rocks that had been shaken from their places above had missed the Vespa. She gunned the engine as she mounted it before taking off. The scenery flashed by as the alien woman sped around the mountain range and headed for the city. Far above her head, she could still the flashes from the furious duel moving across the sky.

Once inside the city limits, Haruko's driving skills were put to the test. She dodged around rubble, explosions, and battling robots. She found it sadly pathetic how easily the Medical Mechanica machines were dashed to pieces by their foes. She was knocked off of the bike when a stray bolt of energy from the battle above incinerated a large machine that would have been used to activate one of the golden flat irons.

As she got back on the yellow bike, Haruko looked to the sky. She was near the center of the city, so most of the major fires had burned themselves out, clearing the skies somewhat. Above her, Haruko could see that Atomsk was not doing so well. There were many deep gashes across his glowing red body, characterized by being a far darker shade than the rest of his body. She watched in horror as the Dark Emperor teleported behind the Pirate King and slashed down his back. If it had been anyone else, they would have been paralyzed, if not worse. Roaring in anger, Atomsk swung behind him, striking the Dark Emperor with his fist and knocking away his opponent's sword.

Atomsk turned and struck again, cutting deep into the trans-dimensional demon's body. Even from where she was, Haruko could see the blood spurt from the wound. For one glorious moment, she thought that Atomsk had killed him. That the war was over. However, she something happen to the Dark Emperor as he fell behind the Pirate King's back. Something was changing. Quickly, Haruko pulled out her binoculars again and pointed them in the direction of the enemy.

She didn't know what exactly she was seeing, but it still made her blood run cold all the same. All she could tell was that the Dark Emperor was not dead yet. He was being covered in something. Something that resembled black flames. However, the fire had a strange, ghostly look to it, almost as if it wasn't really fire. It swirled and shimmered around the Dark Emperor's body as he straightened himself out and returned to Atomsk's field of vision.

As the two stared each other down, Haruko became aware of two things. First, in addition to the ghostly flames, Shadow's eyes had changed. They were now pitch black, with one yellow glowing pupil in his left eye. Second, she felt almost as if her energy was being drained, and she had the strange sense that it was being pulled towards the Dark Emperor.

Atomsk swung forward, aiming to chop the now defenseless demon in half. However, the Dark Emperor caught the blade in one hand, without so much as flinching. At the same time, the ghostly fire moved, condensing itself around his free hand. Now it seemed to change. It became darker and denser, swirling around his hand like a smoky fire, yet caught somewhere between a liquid and a gas. It looked different from a burst of energy as well, but as they soon found out, it served the same purpose.

The black matter fired from the Dark Emperor's hand, colliding with Atomsk. In that moment, several things happened at once. The energy and power in this attack was simply too much for the planet to handle, and the ground began to shake violently. Haruko was thrown from the Vespa again as a huge fissure opened up in the ground behind her. She new in an instant the Atomsk was doomed, and watched hopelessly as the dark energy enveloped his body, consuming it. All around her, the city was crumbling.

However, the beam had yet another affect, something that awakened a sense of urgency and self-preservation in the woman. The attack wasn't just using energy, it was using life force. She could feel the life force being sapped from her body as she stumbled to the Vespa. She revved it up and shot into the sky, looking back just in time to see the phantom energy disappear, Atomsk's body gone.

As she escaped the planet, Haruko could feel the energy and life returning to her body. Once in space, she looked back and gasped at the planet. It was swiftly turning into a lifeless rock. The atmosphere was visibly disintegrating while huge, fiery cracks opened in the surface. She turned away; looking toward a massive fleet of ships mustered a ways away from the planet. This was the Dark Emperor's fleet. At its center was a colossal vessel. It looked more like a space station, with no visible engines or command decks, but it moved like a starship. That was the Dark Palace, Shadow's personal vessel.

Needing to report back, Haruko turned and sped away from the fleet and the dying planet. Tears stung her eyes as anger and sadness swept through her body. She keyed her communicator once she was a safe distance away.

"Command, this is Raharu. Mission failed. Atomsk is dead"

_**Well, what do you think? Please read and review! If you're wondering about Hiccup's Fate, I'm coming back from a break with a vengeance so look for an update soon!**_

_**Darkguymelef**_


End file.
